Climate Communications Initiative Strategic Plan (2019) / Chapter Skim
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The Strategic Plan for the Climate Communications Initiative
The Strategic Plan for the Climate Communications Initiative
Pages 4-30
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From page 4... ...
This strategy begins with an overview of the priority audiences and stakeholders for the National Academies' climate-related work that the Advisory Committee identified. Potential Audiences and Stakeholders The National Academies are advisers to the nation.
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The Advisory Committee also believes that the CCI provides an avenue to reach audiences with relevant climate interests that may value the objectivity and credibility of the institution on this challenging topic and that may have otherwise avoided engagement on the topic because of perceived partisanship from other groups working in the space. The institution can expand its efforts to engage with audiences and intermediaries to make its work more useful at all levels of society, including: State, local, and tribal decision makers.
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However, the Advisory Committee recommends prioritizing the CCI activities for federal and other specific non-federal decision-making audiences rather than the public at large. The following section describes an approach for the National Academies to identify and prioritize those specific audiences whose information needs they are best suited to serve over time.
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Priority 1: Understanding Audiences In this section, we describe a proposed "Communications Learning Cycle" as a guide for the National Academies to institute a systematic approach to understanding audiences. We describe general approaches and ways to engage with and learn from both federal and non-federal audiences, including direct engagement with audiences and with intermediaries connected to these audiences.
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From page 8... ...
. However, in other cases, learning about and listening to new potential audiences will be a first step in the communications learning cycle.
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. This analysis, along with input from the Advisory Committee, can help the National Academies determine the key audiences, goals, and activities for which the National Academies are well suited and thereby avoid pursuing too many different goals at once.5 The previously outlined communications learning cycle will then be the "vehicle" for increasing audience engagement (efforts to move "up" on the diagram)
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However, the National Academies might also logically invest in a more robust institutional capability to learn about audiences in an ongoing way that could be applied to their work on climate, as well as additional work in other areas at the National Academies. INSTITUTIONALIZING UNDERSTANDING AUDIENCES Ideally, learning from and about the audiences for the National Academies' climate-related information will become a standard institutional practice that guides the ways in which the work is communicated and the types of engagement with others through convening activities and other means.
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In this section, we recommend the National Academies undertake three specific tasks to increase the relevance, accessibility, and timeliness of their climate-related work: 1. Create a user-centric climate content inventory.
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The National Academies' climate-related content is optimized for search engines and social media platforms to ensure that highly credible science is prominent in climate-change searches, and misinformation and falsehoods are less prominent. Future National Academies studies are designed to maximize their relevance, accessibility, and timeliness for their audiences.
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The National Academies would also need to develop supporting infrastructure that would allow easier access to climate-related content and analysis with an improved archival system and powerful search function, as previously recommended to the institution. Going forward, we believe that the National Academies should explore ways to use artificial intelligence or other data analytics tools to optimize access to their growing inventory.6 The Advisory Committee also believes that this approach to understanding and organizing the inventory should be used prospectively to communicate with the sponsors of future studies about how the work may be useful to a range of potential audiences.
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From page 14... ...
A more comprehensive and systematic analysis of the inventory might also reveal unexpected ways that reports have been useful to other audiences, in other contexts, and over time. The envisioned climate content inventory would not be simply a database of reports.
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This process should advance in coordination with the National Academies Press to consider the existing structure and tags for the inventory of reports it maintains, as well as future changes it may adopt. This effort should also take into account the way that climate information is located through external databases and search engines (e.g., for published journal articles on topics such as Earth, the environment, health, and engineering sciences)
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This portal would necessarily draw from the user-centric climate inventory outlined previously in this section. Such a digital climate portal would provide an essential resource for quickly locating content for time-sensitive queries in a range of scenarios.
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. The National Academies should also consider including content from external reports that have been officially reviewed by National Academies' ad hoc committees -- such as the National Climate Assessment, which could supplement the National Academies' own content with additional timely and relevant information.
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in a swift and coordinated fashion to crises, news events, select instances of misinformation, or social media interest in the public sphere on climate-related issues. Maintaining this capability will require an infrastructure that makes internal content easily navigable and searchable.
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Several situations could trigger and provide justification for a quick response, for instance: When the issue at stake was the topic of a National Academies consensus study report (or other National Academies work or statements) and the National Academies can use the results as the basis of their science-based communication.
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From page 20... ...
The moment has engendered widespread discussion and debate about climate: For example, the moment is receiving high levels of public attention. It is a teachable moment for the National Academies to provide scientific facts and one that may encourage people to seek understanding about climate science: For example, people are actively seeking information on the issue and may be open to information that may not agree with preconceived notions.
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From page 21... ...
The National Academies should have clear assignments for monitoring when this is needed, as well as a clear and suitably rapid decisionmaking process with the National Academies' leadership. This team would be able to prepare responses, grounded in National Academies consensus study reports and other studies, across a variety of communication media optimized for different audiences (e.g., social media posts as well as two-page briefs for congressional staff)
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Possible tools and metrics to incorporate in evaluation include quantitative elements, such as page views and social media statistics, as well as qualitative elements, such as overall sentiment of the public, public officials, the media, blogs, and social media regarding the National Academies' responses (using tools like webLyzard's MediaWatch) ; sentiment about the information to which the National Academies are responding; and how responding is changing the National Academies' reputation or visibility.
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From page 23... ...
Other benefits could include expertise and in-kind assistance with the National Academies' efforts, funding for climate-related or CCI activities, or outreach-related activities. Collaborations also offer potential value to external organizations to support and advance those organizations' own work and goals because of the National Academies' authoritative content, non-partisan character, and network of expertise.
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GOALS OF COLLABORATIONS As described in Priority 1, collaborations with other organizations can help the National Academies achieve their goals for communicating and engaging with different audiences for their climate-related content from across the sciences, engineering, and medicine. For example, collaborations can help the National Academies raise awareness of the National Academies as a valuable resource for climate-related information, amplify and extend the reach of relevant National Academies climate-related content and activities, learn about important climate-related information gaps and convening roles it could fill, and increase the relevance and impact of the National Academies' climate-related work with specific audiences by working with organizations better suited to meet their needs.
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Specific criteria that the National Academies should consider include: Mission and reputation: The National Academies may consider those with relevant missions and reputations for doing world-class science and engineering (e.g., federal agencies, universities and university labs, or free-choice learning institutions such as museums, science centers, planetariums, zoos, and aquariums)
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Does the collaboration help the National Academies achieve their climate communication goals?
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From page 27... ...
In addition, CCI liaisons -- individuals with roles on other related National Academies activities -- could be appointed to represent and interface regularly with key audiences within and external to the institution, including NAS, NAE, and NAM members. The National Academies should also leverage all opportunities to share the CCI plans and activities across the organization, utilizing the meetings and webinars for standing boards, committees, and programs, as well as the annual meetings for the NAS, NAE, and NAM.
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From page 28... ...
, and should establish a longer-term framework for considering new activities, which should, for example: Articulate how the proposed activity aligns with the CCI goals and priorities. Include specific evaluation metrics and mechanisms for shared learning.
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Every 2 years, the National Academies should revisit this strategic plan to Evaluate the impact of the CCI based on established metrics, Assess progress on priority activities, and Propose additional activities and/or new priorities. Two-year assessments should be provided to the National Academies Governing Board.
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